Burma

Article

An Alternative Reality: Buddhist Nationalism versus Religious Diversity

In the so-called transition period (2011-2021) in Burma/Myanmar, representations in media and social media of interrelations between Buddhists and Muslims have predominantly been those of violence...

Text: Niklas Foxeus December 10 2021

Poetry

A Poem by Ma Thida

Ma Thida is a Burmese human rights activist, surgeon, writer, and former prisoner of conscience. In October 1994, she was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in Insein Prison on the charges of...

Poem: Ma Thida November 05 2021

Fiction

Extract from the novel "In the shadow of the monk"

The author Helena Thorfinn's latest novel "In the shadow of the monk" takes place in Myanmar during the short time that the country opened up to the outside world. In this short extract, we are in...

Text: Helena Thorfinn October 22 2021

Poetry

About the skulls - a poem by K Zar Win

The poet K Zar Win, whose poems have appeared in Myanmar magazines since 2004, was killed in a protest in Monywa March 3 2021. K Zar Win was born to a peasant family in Latpadaung near Monywa in 1982...

Poem: K Zar Win October 01 2021

Editorial

The Myitkyina Library

The conflict in Myanmar concerns a struggle between democracy and dictatorship. After a decade characterized by a slow...

Editorial: Jesper Bengtsson October 01 2021

Poetry

Flower Revolution

Khet Mar (born 1969) is a novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist. As a twenty-two-year-old university student, she was arrested for her political activism, tortured, and sentenced to ten...

Text: Khet Mar October 01 2021

Interview

“We aim to be the country’s most important media company”

It took 24 years for Soe Myint to return to his homeland. He spent 24 years waiting, but also keeping busy with his hard and dedicated work in establishing a free and independent news service...

Text: Jesper Bengtsson March 13 2014

Article

We dedicate this issue to Nils Horner's memory

The Swedish journalist Nils Horner, a highly respected correspondent in Asia for Swedish public radio, was brutally...

Illustration: Jesper Waldersten March 13 2014

Article

The systematic repression of the Rohingya minority continues

Maung Zarni is a Burmese scholar in exile. He is an expert on the political affairs of Myanmar, and currently Visiting Fellow at London School of Economics. In this article he writes about the...

Text: Maung Zarni March 13 2014

Article

Burma at a glance

Graphic: IKI IKE March 13 2014

Poetry

Wash your hands

The pseudonym Pandora is one the most influential poets in Burma today. In 2012, she published an anthology entitled Tuning: An Anthology of Myanmar Women Poets, which is the first book of its kind...

Text: Pandora March 13 2014

Article

What does PEN Myanmar mean for the country?

PEN was once a kind of social club for authors. The task is currently to found a PEN centre in Myanmar that can map the country's literature and its degree of freedom of expression, which plays a...

Text: Marian Botsford Fraser March 13 2014

Article

The Kachin: Culture of the mountain lords

One of the problems shaking the state of Myanmar can be found in the ethnic conflicts that have arisen in the wake of the faltering dictatorship. While the majority of the population speaks Burmese...

Text: Lucas Stewart March 13 2014

Fiction

Ludu and I

1946 saw the establishment of a regime-critical daily newspaper called Ludu. Today, it is a natural institution for dissident writers in Burma. Despite the constant pressure and threats it received...

Text: Bo Bo Lansin March 13 2014

Article

On the precipice: Burmese literature post-censorship

How does a country's literature recover after years of mass censorship? James Byrne, poet and founder of the poetry journal The Wolf, has followed the developments in Burma for many years and he was...

Text: James Byrne March 13 2014